The present invention relates to a wheel suspension for a motor vehicle, especially with four-wheel drive and with at least one guide member which is pivotally supported on the body side underneath an axle drive shaft, especially of a front wheel axle drive shaft, and is connected with a wheel carrier, and in which a spring leg is arranged between the guide member and the vehicle body which is extended laterally past the drive shaft by means of a connecting element adjoining the spring leg cylinder and which is pivotally retained with the lower guide member in a bearing support.
A wheel suspension with a shock absorber is disclosed in the DE-OS 26 33 402 which is provided with an indentation in its cylindrical tubular part in order that an axle drive shaft can be extended without impairment close to the shock absorber. Indentations in the cylindrical tubular part of the absorber are possible in the outer tubular part with two tube-type shock absorbers. In contrast, such indentations can be provided only within a certain area with single tube-type shock absorbers by reason of the movable piston in the cylinder of the shock absorber or damper and this provision of the indentation at the tubular part guiding the piston can be carried out only with a considerable expenditure. A wheel suspension with a spring leg is described in the DE-OS 33 42 355 which includes a connecting element coordinated to a lower guide member. This connecting element is constructed as fork in such a manner that an axle drive shaft can be extended through two fork prongs. With such a construction limiting the drive shaft on both sides, it is costly to install and disassemble the drive shaft rapidly and in a simple manner because, in that case, the lower end of the connecting element forming the fork must be detached from the guide member.
The present invention is concerned with the task to provide a wheel suspension of the aforementioned type in which an axle drive shaft is to be arranged unimpaired by a spring leg and an assembly and disassembly of the axle drive shaft is simplified.
The underlying problems are solved according to the present invention in that the connecting element of the spring leg includes a groove-shaped recess extending transversely with respect to the drive shaft, in which the shaft is arranged immersing with a longitudinal section with a spacing for movement.
The principal advantages achieved with the present invention reside in that owing to the groove-shaped recess in the connecting element, which is open toward the axle drive shaft, the shaft can assume a position inside of the circumferential contour of the element, whereby the connecting element itself has no significantly larger diameter than the cylindrical part of the spring leg. The recess, which is open toward the outside, also enables a simple and quick assembly of the axle drive shaft without having to disconnect the connecting element, respectively, the spring leg from the lower guide member.
The connecting element is preferably so constructed that a bearing part at the end thereof is arranged concentric to the cylindrical tubular part of the spring leg.
In particular, the recess is constructed so large that the movement of the axle drive shaft is not impaired during wheel movements and a sufficient spacing is provided between this shaft and the recess. As the wheel movement and the steering movements resulting therefrom are known, the contour of the recess can be constructed corresponding to the possible movements of the shaft. In one embodiment according to this invention, this can be achieved in that the recess in the connecting element is constructed arcuately shaped.